Imperfections
by thekatthatbarks
Summary: Sakura shows up injured at Kakashi's apartment.


Kakashi climbed through windows all the time, preferring them over doors, but it was a rare occurrence when someone came in through _his_ window. The throbbing chakra signal had woken him immediately and he saw a small body pulling themselves through his window. The moonlight shined on her entrance and he caught sight of pink hair.

He was out of bed before her feet had touched the floor and he caught her easily as she swayed. She looked up at him tiredly as she gripped at her left arm. She smiled at him and leaned her full weight against him, breathing out his name, "Kakashi."

He felt panic rising in his throat as he saw all the blood that was staining her sleeve. Her hand was glowing dimly in the dark of his room, but he could tell her chakra was slowly diminishing. He moved her to his bed and helped her take off her flak jacket. She winced as he did so and he felt a pain like a blade twisting in his chest at the way she breathed through her teeth. Her shirt was next and by the time she was just down to her bindings, her breathing was uneven and sweat matted her hair to her forehead.

There was a long gash down her arm that she was slowly healing. It seemed like she had stopped the bleeding for the most part, but the wound still wasn't completely healed. Kakashi leaned her against the wall behind his bed before retrieving his med kit from the corner of his room. When he came back, Sakura tried to give him a smile but he could tell she was on the verge of passing out. He gently moved her hand away and the green glow faded from the room. He stitched and wrapped the wound to the best of his abilities and then wiped her blood away with a wet washrag. He was methodic as he took care of her, but he had felt his blood running cold the entire time and it took everything in him for his fingers to not shake. He'd never get used to seeing her like this.

He let out a deep breath as he knelt in front of her on the floor, his hands holding her arms to steady her. "I hate when you do this. You always rag on me to go to the hospital, but you're just as bad as me."

Sakura weakly brought a hand up to his face and leaned her forehead against his. "I'm sorry, Kashi." Her breathing was better now at least. "I knew it wasn't that bad and I know you'll always take care of me."

 _That wasn't the point._ Kakashi pulled away from her and grabbed a sleeveless shirt for her to sleep in since he thought that might be more comfortable. He was going to untie her bindings but she shook her head at him saying it would take too long and she was tired. He helped her pull the shirt over her head and slipped her out of her pants, taking off her boots along the way. She let out a deep and satisfied breath as she crawled under his sheets. Her face fell against his pillow and she was out like a light in less than ten seconds.

Kakashi ran his fingers through his hair as he watched her shoulders slowly rise and fall. After a few seconds of just staring at her, his heart finally calmed down. He picked her clothes off the floor and took them across the apartment to throw in his washer. Sakura could decide in the morning if she thought any of it was salvageable. There had been a lot of blood and tears.

On his way back to his room, Pakkun stopped him as he walked out of the room the ninken slept in. He sniffed the air and looked at Kakashi in question. "The boys and I smelled blood. Sakura, again?"

Kakashi nodded and leaned against the wall. "She's a medic. She should know better and just go to the hospital."

Pakkun snorted and sat in front of him. "Like you're any better."

"That's different." Kakashi shook his head. "I'm not a medic."

"Don't be a hypocrite, Kakashi. You do this to her more often than she does it to you. You just don't like being in the pair of shoes where you have to be scared shitless because your mate showed up in your bedroom seriously injured." Pakkun scratched behind his ear and looked meaningfully up at Kakashi. "Plus, Sakura actually _hasn't_ shown up almost dying like you've done to her."

Kakashi felt that sinking guilt again at the mention of it. Sakura had been mad at him for _weeks_ afterwards. But he hadn't been thinking straight that night. He'd been delirious and she had been the only thought on his mind. He hadn't even gone to her to be healed, he had just wanted to see her.

He leaned his head back against the wall and replied, "It doesn't make seeing her like this any easier."

Pakkun shrugged in front of him the best a dog _could_ shrug. "That's the shinobi life, pup. Besides, Sakura has to see everyone she loves like this even if it's not in her home. Everyone has picked her as their personal medic. She has to deal with this all the time. You need to be strong for her."

Kakashi chuckled and looked down at his ninken. "Since when do you understand human relationships so well?"

Before Pakkun could answer, a voice interrupted their conversation. "Kashi?" Sakura called out sleepily to him and they both looked over to see her leaning against his doorway. When her eyes caught sight of Pakkun, her eyebrows scrunched in worry. "Is something wrong?"

Pakkun trotted over to her. "No, Sakura-chan. Are you alright?"

She smiled down at him and Kakashi knew that if she felt up to it she would have leaned down to scratch behind the dog's ears. "Don't worry about me, Pakkun. I'm fine."

She looked over at Kakashi with what could only be described as a pout and held out her hand. "Kakashi, come to bed."

Kakashi gave her a small smile and walked over to her, wrapping an arm around his waist and leading her back to the bedroom. He threw a nod to Pakkun who did the same and turned back to his own room. He pulled her into the bed with him, holding her against him with her head falling to his chest. She tightened her injured arm around his torso and entangled their legs together before going back to sleep.

Kakashi's fingers combed through her hair as he simply enjoyed her warmth and the assurance that she was safe in his arms. It would be a while before he was able to fall back asleep, so he let his thoughts go to Sakura like they had a habit of doing.

She was a difficult woman. She was stubborn in every aspect of her life. She didn't let anyone else try and tell her what her limits were. She'd fight tooth and nail to save someone who had the slightest chance of making it. He rarely won an argument with her. She had times like tonight where she refused to go to the hospital if she couldn't heal herself completely. Something about Tsunade would put her on leave and Sakura _hated_ being on leave. She was a workaholic, spending any time off she had from missions at the hospital. She was clingy after missions, his and hers. She couldn't sleep long if he wasn't beside her. If she didn't have reason to, she wouldn't leave his side the following days after a mission. Not that he ever minded. She was a horrible cook, no matter how hard she tried. She burned everything and added too many spices. She was an imperfect woman, but she was _his_. He loved every part of her, including anything someone would call a _flaw_.

Kakashi liked to think they suited each other quite well.


End file.
